The Panama – Jack Schroder, Geoff Clarke, Brian Anderson (left to right) and Rob Blackburn (bottom) – streamed their music on CKCU (Photo: Lasia Kretzel)
The sound of the fire alarm – which we later found out was triggered by people smoking in a stairwell – ran through the not-so-long-ago quiet hallways of the Unicentre on the evening of Oct. 22.
Outside, the wind blew so frigidly that eyes watered and teeth chattered.
But amidst the cold and chaos, the Charlatan and CKCU were warmed by the music and presence of The Panama, a foursome of Ottawa indie rockers, including two Carleton students.
Before a live performance on the campus radio station, the musicians found refuge down the hall in the Charlatan office for a pre-show practice.
Their unified sound, which they described as “The Panama” rather than a specific genre, is woven together by the eclectic collection of styles each member has previously played.
Jack Schroder is a classical guitarist by trade.
Brian Anderson, also a guitarist, has a punk background.
And drummer and vocalist Geoff Clarke has gone from metal to folk to jazz to electronic.
“We all bring something to the plate,” Clarke said. “Somehow I found myself right on top of this little egg called The Panama.”
It’s practice and trying not to cater to one’s personal style, they said, that lets their talents mesh.
Whatever their style, the band prides themselves on their optimism, for which they credit Schroder.
“I’m a pretty positive guy,” he said.
Although he calls the music and lyrics deep, Schroder said they play with an upbeat sound.
“When I’m writing lyrics and listening to songs, I want to hear about how crappy the situation was and at the end I want to hear how you came out of it and how it’s positive,” said vocalist Rob Blackburn.
“I think that’s what people need. They need people to touch them and be on the same level as them and then at the same time, give them a resolution that things can be better. There is a better day.”
Their current situation has landed them in search of a bassist.
Hoping for a positive resolution, they want “honesty right of the bat,” Clarke said. “You really have to be honest and true about how much time you’re willing to put into it.”
Even without someone to slap the bass, the guys said they plan on heading into studio in a couple of weeks to track some songs.
“By at least next spring or early summer we can at least get out there and get on the road . . . because people need to hear the music,” Blackburn said.
Ontario and Quebec are on their tour map, they said. But before hitting the gas pedal, they hit the airwaves on CKCU.
Clarke and Schroder said it was thanks to this radio station that they found Blackburn.
“We were like, ‘We gotta get this guy,’ ” Clarke said when he heard Blackburn’s music on CKCU during one of Blackburn’s many radio performances.
Oct. 22 was Schroder and Clarke’s first radio show but Blackburn admitted, “I’m a little bit of a CKCU whore.”